


Second Chances

by Hachiubi



Category: Undertale
Genre: Angst, Anxiety Disorder, Depression, F/F, F/M, First work - Freeform, I think that's all the tags, Mental Instability, Physical Abuse, Timelines, Tragedy, Violence, butterfly effects, gender neutral chara, gender neutral frisk, tentacles are a thing but only plantonically, undertale - Freeform, woohoo
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-01
Updated: 2016-02-23
Packaged: 2018-05-17 13:47:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5872693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hachiubi/pseuds/Hachiubi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Against better judgement and warnings, Sans chases after a mysterious human girl to find the truth of her existence, his sudden flux of memories and the future of the Underground for this timeline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for choosing to read this fanfic. This is my first time uploading anything of mine to a website and the first time writing a Undertale fanfic so please leave your comments below. I'd like to know how I'm doing~

Another day. Each day harder than the last. Getting up, going to work, falling asleep, eating at Grillbys, going home. The same routine, the same conclusion, the same results. It was all the same, dull and grey. Yup, that’s what he was feeling right about now. Though those around him saw it all as laziness, it was in fact that Sans just couldn’t find the strength to care anymore. He’d watched his brother die more times than he could count, whether he interfered or not; the people around him fade to dust and his own demise at the hands of the kid with the blue sweater. There was no point to anything he did; trying gave no results. So he did nothing. Another day. Another dead end result.

He woke up later, felt slower, ate less. He felt like an invisible force was slowly choking the life from his body, a heavy weight was pressing down on his ribcage. He couldn’t burden anyone with this; no one would remember come the next timeline. Nothing would change. Sans opened his eyes, realizing that he was in the forest suddenly, not remembering when he had made his way there. Last he saw, he was laying on the couch.

The chilly winter air felt nothing like the numbness in his soul and he watched silently as small flakes of snow fell down from the sky. He closed his eyes; sleep walking now huh? That was something else to add to the list of things wrong with him. This timeline seemed to be extremely taxing. He took a deep breath and let it out, opening his eyes.

They widened and at first he thought he saw the killer again, a flash of blue and pink picked up within the tiny pricks of his eyes. Blue flared, glowing brightly in the surrounding darkness as memories of being attacked clouded his vision. The giant gaster blaster loomed above him, gaping jaws filled with bright blue energy as it waited for the order to fire.

The human jumped as well, falling backwards into the snow, blue scarf flying in the breeze. They stared at each other for a long while and slowly Sans began to realize that this wasn’t the same kid. The kid from before, the one who had killed Papyrus and everyone else was emotionless and ruthless and the human before him was shaking and beginning to cry.

She was shorter than him, dressed in the sweater and shorts and small shoes; a blue scarf, much too big for her, wrapped around her neck and shoulders. Two long pigtails, dark like the winter sky flowed behind her seeming impossibly full with hair. Large brown eyes filled with tears made her look extremely harmless.

His eye died down and the blaster turned to dust as he calmed down. What was going on? He didn’t have a moment to think as the human girl began walking towards him.

“Woah there kid,” he said putting his hand out, eye glowing again, “I wouldn’t step over here if I were you.” The little girl sniffled, keeping her distance and shaking for a moment. Then suddenly, as if finding some sort of courage, she jumped into the place between his jacket zipper, pulling the two sides over her shivering form and gave a small sigh. This forced him to lean against her and she felt cold against his ribs, no doubt she’d been out here for a while.

“Ever hear of personal space?” he asked and she looked up at him from her position and gave a small smile. Sans felt warmth spread through him suddenly; it was a feeling he hadn’t felt in what seemed like forever. Was this happiness?

This was all wrong though; the kid with the knife, dust in the air, destruction across the kingdom, where was all that? Why instead this small, defenseless girl? The more he thought about it, the more his head began to hurt.

Defenseless, as in easy to kill. Human, as in soul. How many souls did they have already? They needed one more didn’t they? Was the universe giving him a chance? Was he getting an opportunity to make everything right? It’d be easy. One attack, one blast, one hit and it’d all be over. The barrier destroyed, monsters free to live their lives on the surface.

He jolted suddenly, feeling tiny arms wrap about his waist, looking down to see two round eyes giving him a questioning look. It would be easy but… This was his first time ever seeing her in any timeline. The kid was a killer but she was innocent. Sans shook his skull, trying to clear through his thoughts.

His first time seeing her and yet, the more he looked at her, the more unsettled he felt. Something in him recognized the sweater she wore; it was definitely the same as the killers. The clothing was the same but the person was different. Was this a different form? What if he let this go and it turned into another wave of deathly destruction?

His skull was beginning to pound from all the thinking and he stepped away from her, trying to comfort the throbbing. The girl looked up at him, reaching a small hand up to his cheek. As soon as skin met bone, he saw something. Flashes of a white stained red, a knife and a smile.

He jumped back, all restraints off as the gaster blaster that he hadn’t remembered summoning again fired. The shot barely missed her, blue energy grazing the scarf behind her. There was a feeling of dizziness as the innocent child was suddenly replaced with a warrior, a couple inches over him. Her eyes glowed crimson and from her pocket, she pulled out a switchblade, much different from the knife he had seen and with incredible speed, she rushed forward. He sent out a wave of bones, but she seemed to glide right through them, the dizziness hitting him as every wave missed. It was a familiar feeling, it felt like a reset.

He pulled out another gaster blaster, setting it off as if to test this. The blast went straight and as it was about to hit, the same feeling quelled up and the switchblade suddenly deflected the attack as if it were nothing. He did it again, using this chance to run.

Alone in the middle of the woods with a murdering, rampaging human after him, Sans could only throw all he had at her in hopes of throwing her off. But with reset, it was useless. He looked back, watching her get closer and closer. He fell in the snow, tripping over an uprooted branch, forced to look up into the eyes of his killer, watching the knife rise high in the air. The scene flickered between the small, dangerous looking girl before him and the image from before. A white dress stained crimson, long black hair and a haunting smile.

-

Sans awoke, breathing heavily and almost fell off the couch. He’d turned in his sleep, his upper body hanging off with nothing but the weight of his pelvis holding him down. His eye activated and magic swirling around the room. He quickly righted himself, holding tightly to his jacket as he looked around. He was in his house, the darkness outside telling him it was late. Papyrus was asleep upstairs; he could tell from the snoring. He stretched, feeling his bones pop and creak, his neck was hurting the most having slept on it wrong. That had been such a weird dream. A human girl with a blue scarf…

He sighed, getting off the couch and deciding that he needed a walk. Grillby’s was still open; he could have something to eat while he tried to sort out his thoughts. Being as quiet as he could, he left the house. Snow was falling yet again but it was too dark to really see. The cold flakes touched his skull though and he propped his hood over to block them. Getting cold water in his skull wasn’t fun.

Sans turned, his eyes widening as yet again he saw a human figure somewhat off in the darkness. His eye glowed at the activation of his magic as it stepped forward, revealing the young girl with dark long pigtails and skin. A blue scarf covered most of her lower face and neck and she was wearing a heavy blue and pink sweater and shorts, standing in the snow. The same girl from his dreams, the one who had attacked him… She saw him, expression suddenly hardened and her hand reached into her pocket.

Sans tensed as well, eye activating. She seemed surprised for a moment before something sparked in her eye and her expression hardened once more.

“You remember then.” The sudden statement put him a bit off guard as her hand dropped empty, “Good. Stay away and you won’t have anything to fear from me.” With a wave of her scarf, she disappeared into the darkness of the night, leaving Sans more confused than ever.


	2. Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the next chapter. Wow, actually got it posted within a week. Yay me~ So uh, enjoy

By the time Papyrus got up, a couple hours after the human’s departure Sans was still wide awake. This was unlike any timeline he’d come across; these memories that were popping up were completely new to him. He had stayed up, thinking all night and the more he racked his brain for an answer, the more his head hurt. But he had made a bit of progress.

The white dress was being worn by a woman; her face wasn’t quite clear but he could make out long, dark locks of hair. She was looking away from him, staring at the ceiling of the cave, watching the stones imitate the sky on the surface. Sans groaned, laying his head against the kitchen table; he wasn’t going to get any sleep.

“Brother, are you okay?” Papyrus asked, sitting at the table and pushing a mug of coffee over to him, “You’re up rather early and… you look a little pale.”

“Pap, I’m a skeleton. We’re all pale,” Sans said, dragging his hand to grab the mug and sipping at it, “I’ll be fine with some rest. I just had some things I had to think about.” Papyrus looked a bit surprised but he didn’t say anything. He probably didn’t think Sans would tell what was bothering him. He wasn’t wrong.

“Well, if you say so. I’m going to start my sentry duty. If you must, take today off.” Papyrus stood and went for the door. It was pretty unusual for him to be so lenient but then again, Sans must’ve looked really bad.

“Hey Pap?” The taller skeleton turned around, “If you see any, uh humans, just… be careful.”

Papyrus put on a big grin, “Don’t worry about me brother! No humans will get past the Great Papyrus and his puzzles!” With a “Nyeh heh heh!”, he left the house, leaving Sans alone with his thoughts once again. With another heavy sigh, the short skeleton sat up and began cracking his aching bones; one hot shower later and he’d be fine and maybe get a short nap in.

He started heading towards the bathroom when out of the corner of his eye, he caught the tail end of a blue scarf passing the window. Alerted, Sans ran to the window, looking out and seeing the human girl from last night walking through town. The scarf was brought up to her ears now, the long pigtails and bangs around her face covering up much of her human features and no monster batted an eye at her as she passed.

“How am I supposed to stay away when you literally walk past my house?” Sans breathed; even so, he kept his distance, memories of the fight still fresh. She was strong and fast, dangerous and she knew him and Papyrus. He was beginning to doubt her presence was a benevolent one as he continued to watch. Still something seemed off about the visions he was having.

He didn’t remember her striking down; the knife glinting in the air, the smell of blood, white stained red. But no mark. No pain. Nothing that proved that he had been hit. He’d remember if she left a scar of some kind; the one the killer child left always hurt right across his sternum.

She was heading the same way Papyrus went when he left town. Could it be-?! Before he could think, he was out the door.

-

Sentry duty had been dull with no human sightings and no puzzles to recalibrate. After a couple hours at Undyne’s working on his cooking skills and training, Papyrus was on his way back to Snowdin. It was almost lunch time and he needed to be home to make something for Sans. He was worried about his brother; it was the first time he’d stayed up all night like that. Something terrible must’ve happened, but true to his disposition, he wouldn’t tell Papyrus a thing about it. He was always like that, though he supposed that was Sans just trying to fix his own problems. He had never wanted to push his problems on his younger brother. The taller skeleton sighed, wishing Sans had a little more faith in him.

He suddenly stopped, wondering if his eyes were deceiving him. There in the road, in front of a rather large rock stood was a human. Long dark pigtails, a blue scarf, sweater and shorts; she was looking up at a sign, reading the text before she turned and stared at him. He stared at her. They stared at each other for a bit before Papyrus realized he’d been staring. It was rude to stare.

He cleared his throat, “Halt human! I, the Great Papyrus, am here to capture you! It would be in your best interests to surrender right away or else you’ll have to face my perilous puzzles!” She didn’t move and he took it as a sign of her surrender. Papyrus nodded in approval, “Well then, come with me human and we’ll go see Undyne. She’s the captain of the royal guard! I’m actually training as well to be part of it but for now, I’m an active sentry. Doing my sworn duty to uphold the laws of Snowdin!”

“This isn’t Snowdin though,” she said, “So doesn’t that mean you don’t have any jurisdiction here?”

“W-well yes… but that’s why we’re going to see Undyne,” Papyrus said.

“But since you have no power here, that means I don’t have to go with you, yes?”

“Well technically yes…”

“Alright then. Bye.” She turned around and began leaving. Papyrus was beside himself; how could he have overlooked that one crucial detail? And how was he just going to let the human walk away? This was horrible.

“W-Wait!” Papyrus called, bounding after, “If we go to Undyne’s… uh… there will be food?” The human stopped, looking back at him as if she was a thirst crazed lunatic in the desert and he had just offered her water.

“Food? Really?” she said before catching herself, “I mean, what kind of food?”

“Oh, most likely spaghetti.”

“Well… I suppose I could go and try some…but then I’d be surrendering myself and I can’t do that yet. I’m waiting on someone…”

“You’re waiting on someone?” Papyrus asked, “Is it a friend of yours?”

The human shrugged, “Yeah, you could say that… How about we make a deal? After I meet them, then I’ll surrender to you.” Papyrus was so happy; he didn’t think twice about it. Soon he’d have an actual human to show to Undyne and she’d be so proud of him, she’d make him a royal guard right then and there!

“You got yourself a deal friend!” Papyrus and the human shook hands, “Is your friend coming soon?”

“I’m not sure. They’re supposed to show up in Snowdin.”

“Well then, until they show up, you’re welcome to stay in Snowdin for a while! I, the Great Papyrus, will give you the grand tour! Maybe you can even stay at my place! There’s plenty of room; just my brother Sans and I live there.” A look of pain crossed her face but she quickly covered it, “We’ll see…”

“Oh this’ll be so cool! A human living at my house! That’s sure to get me popular!” Papyrus was in his head now, skipping home to Snowdin as he thought about all the friends he’d make after this. He looked back a couple of times only to make sure that the human was following him back.

-

The human girl looked forward at Papyrus, taking in the tall skeleton. He was much different than Sans was. The battle suit he wore was completely useless when it came to actual battle. It wouldn’t protect him from any attack, only as adequate as normal clothing. Papyrus was strong, but he was innocent and he was naïve. He would never use his powers to hurt or kill another and because of that, he’d never get stronger than he was. He’d never join the royal guard as long as he was like this. She almost wanted to do something about it; whenever they met, Papyrus was always nice to her. He always had a smile, always gave a hand when it came to needing help and he always protected what was precious to him. He deserved it; however, in the same breath, if he refused to kill then he was no better alive than dead. He was useless to her efforts.

She bit her lip, stilling her emotions as she had to remind herself that emotions were what got everyone killed. She had to look at everything with the cold and calculating stare or else this time would be a failure just like every other one.

The taller skeleton looked back at her several times and she put on her best friendly smile to reassure him, always dropping the expression when he turned away. This would be easier if she could only talk to Sans… Her breath hitched and she shook the thought away; it wasn’t an option. She could use anyone in this world but he… he was not an option. She gripped the scarf around her neck, gritting her teeth behind her closed mouth. Never again…

They arrived at the house; it felt a bit weird every time she went in. She faked novelty in her eyes, knowing full well that she had been here many, many times before. The place smelled like warm wood and tomatoes. It brought back conversations that were shared on the couch, the dinner table fixed for three while the television crackled with the latest episode of Mettaton’s cooking show.

Papyrus made his way to the kitchen, true to his nature, to get some leftovers. She remembered seeing the fridge filled with nothing but plates of the stuff. His cooking was terrible but it was food and she had never been raised to refuse a meal. She put the fork in her mouth, surprised that it was somewhat edible this time. The taste awakened memories of cooking lessons and spaghetti puns and she choked on them, shoveling the food into her mouth. No memories. Just food.

Papyrus looked worried, which meant that Sans was probably supposed to be around at some point. She would feel better if he stayed far away; that wasn’t something she felt like tackling right now.

She finished her plate, holding it up to him, “This is pretty good. Got some more?” She hadn’t realized she’d been so hungry. All she had today was that pie Toriel had sent her off with.

“You must be pretty hungry,” Papyrus said, standing to go get more, “Don’t tell me you don’t eat.”

“I eat but it’s mostly junk food. It’s nice to have a home cooked meal.”

“If only Sans had the kind of intelligent thinking you do. Why, almost every night he’s off at Grillby’s, stuffing himself silly with junk. He might be there right now… Well there’s no point worrying. He’s a big bone. He can take care of himself.” Papyrus sat back down, handing her another plate, “Do you really like it? This one isn’t one of my best…”

“It tastes good to me,” she said giving him another reassuring smile; Papyrus needed those or else he began to doubt and ask questions. The less questions, the better. The silence hung over them both and the skeleton looked like he wanted to say something yet at the same time, didn’t want to interrupt her meal. She wasn’t very sure what it was he wanted to say; this timeline was full of surprises.

“So tell me about your friend,” Papyrus said, “What are they like? Are they human like you? Do they like puzzles?” She choked a bit on her food, taking the glass of water the tall skeleton offered.

“They…uh… well…” she said, trying to think of something to say, “Sure.” Papyrus looked at her as if wanting more information but she didn’t say anything. The table got very quiet.

“Oh, really?” he said, “That’s cool. Do you have much in common?”

“No, not really. They don’t talk much.”

“So they aren’t really a friend then?” For being a naïve and sweet skeleton, he was way too observant.

“You said friend, not me.”

“Then what are you going to do when you meet them?”

She didn’t say anything, feeling the switchblade in her pocket, briefly wondering if her cheerful disposition had slipped a bit because Papyrus was looking a bit scared now. She did her best to try and smile, looking at her wrist.

“Wow! Look at the time! I gotta go!” she said, standing abruptly and rushing out the door. Papyrus wouldn’t chase her far but she ran like he would, snow flying behind her.

-

Sans watched the human run out of the house, as if she had dogs at her heels. He told Papyrus to be careful and he brings her into the house. He was suddenly afraid but only moments later, he saw his younger brother standing at the door, calling after her. He let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Jesus Pap…” he muttered; he could’ve died in there for all he knew. Rushing in would’ve been suicide, especially since this one only had a mean streak for him. His presence may have set her off and then… well he shuddered thinking about it. To his relief, Papyrus didn’t try to chase her but went back inside and closed the door. With his brother safe, he could focus on the task at hand.

The snow was falling quickly and he watched the human struggle through it, lifting her legs high to get over the next mound of snow before taking another step. She seemed to be headed out into the forest this time and it’d be much easier to follow her with the snow slowing her down. Heck, if he knew where she was going, he’d just-!

Sans blinked and the human girl was suddenly gone. The prints in the snow definitely told him she had been there but she was gone. He rushed over to where she had been, suddenly feeling a familiar drum of magic. His soul began glowing in response to it, brightly colored blue covering where she had been standing. It reacted to his, sparkling against the white powder.

He knew why it felt familiar now; that was his magic. He had hardly enough time to try and process how that was possible before heard a light ringing. A sudden lurching as if being pulled from one place quickly, he recognized this as when he took a shortcut. But usually he was in control and he was ready. He was deposited in the snow, the shortcut sealing quickly and disappearing in a flurry of sparkles.

Picking himself up from the cold, he cursed. This was going to be a pain to get this all out of his skull and clothes. He recognized the area around him; this was the path from that ruin door. A door he visited frequently to chat with the woman and exchange knock knock jokes. She was punching the door, screaming at it, knuckles tearing up and bleeding. He wasn’t sure how long he stood there and watched before she broke down, falling to her knees and leaning against the door.

It was… a bit disturbing and somehow also sad. Sans stepped forward, not paying attention and his foot came down on a large branch, easily crushing it. The noise was loud and the human looked straight in his direction.

Well shit.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So had a slight problem with the wifi, so the chapter was a day late. Sorry. Here ya go.

Sans was running now, firing beams through the snow to keep up. This girl was really fast. Were humans supposed to be so quick? He couldn’t remember; it could’ve been the fact that she was somehow using his magic to do what she pleased but he wouldn’t know until he caught her and demanded some answers. He wasn’t really sure why he thought an all-out attack like this would work but after she had spotted him, she bolted. They still had a good many miles before they reached Snowdin and Sans had the luxury of not needing to breathe. She however was losing breath. If he ran her ragged, it’d make catching her easier.

So Sans did just that, setting up waves of bones to intercept the human, steering her in circles if he could. She broke away from his sight a couple of times but the gaster blasters did a pretty good job of keeping a tab on her. He watched as she rounded a tree, kicking off and jumping onto the head of the blaster, weight forcing its jaws close. Her whole body leaned and the blaster was suddenly flying away from the others. She was steering it like a go cart, turning it so that it raced away. Sans ducked as it barely took his head off, jerking it back with a thought.

The human girl flew off and rolled several feet before getting to her feet. He reached out to grab her soul and turn it blue but a barrier pushed his attack back with little effort. Her eyes had suddenly turned that blood color, like he saw in that dream and her hand came back into view, the silver blade shining. The air around her began to rise, evident as snowflakes were caught in her field of gravity and seemed to just float in place. Those eyes of hers hit some sort of primal fear and he set off a gaster blaster. The beam of light was deflected, a slimy tentacle glowing blue from behind her and soon joined by several others. The wild smile on her face was a mockery of his own as she sprang forward.

Turned victim, Sans threw wave of bones to deflect the attacks. They came quick and from all around, making it difficult to keep up with. He sent out a wave, surprising her with blue bones to keep the closer attacking tentacles. Another gaster blaster but trying to attack his own magic was impossible as again it was smacked away like an annoying fly. It grabbed the blaster, a couple twisting around the cannon and effectively crushing it out of existence. He made his patterns more unpredictable but there was that dizzying feeling and he knew she was resetting. Slowly she was getting closer, no matter how unpredictable he made his attacks.

He put his hand back up to ready another wave of bones but a slimy blue grabbed his wrist, pulling it up and over his shoulder, forcing him back into the snow as bones fizzled and fell. They were joined, holding down his limbs, curling around his neck, pressing on his chest as she calmly walked over to his struggling form. The crushing force on his neck and ribs was painful as he looked up at her, the smile gone, crimson eyes bare of any emotion as she raised that knife. He felt his soul freeze as it reached its peak in the cold air.

Her eyes suddenly lost their red color, the blue holding him down breaking apart and disappearing in the air and she blinked, looking confused. Sans gave her no time to think, quickly turning the tables and pushing her back in the snow. They struggled for a bit, though she was pretty strong for a human but he pinned her arms down at her sides, sitting down on her. She kicked with her legs but that was about she could do.

 -

After being thrown from the blaster, she figured she had blacked out from the fall. But to wake up suddenly, standing and holding up her knife in such a threatening manner… There was something wrong; blackouts were normal for her. She figured that was some sort of side effect to her jumping timelines but this was new. A lot of things weren’t going according to her calculations. Like Sans jumping at her like he did. She struggled but to be honest, monsters were naturally stronger than human beings and she had somehow exhausted her magical supply. She kicked her legs but that was about all she could manage.

“You look a little stuck there,” Sans said, “Must be under some pressure.”

“Oh my god!” she shouted, in an effort to starve off laughing, “What could you possibly want that would warrant attacking me? You’re being completely erratic, not to mention making me waste my magic energy!”

“My magic energy,” he corrected, “I don’t know how you’ve been doing it but you’ve been stealing my magic. Not to mention, you tell me to stay away but you pass right in front of my house or better yet, you go in it with my brother. So what game are you playing? I’m not quite understanding the rules here.”

She didn’t say anything; this was supposed to be easy but as the days went by from Papyrus being observant to Sans chasing her here, it wasn’t anything like what she had calculated. New tactics would be needed and soon. There was no telling when this time of peace would brush over.

“Hello?” She snapped back to attention just as hard, bony digits jabbed at her sides. She choked, jaw tightening and teeth pressing against each other. She would not let him win. She would not… let him… A high pitched giggled escaped and she twisted and squirmed as his fingers strained against the underside of her arms.

“Geeze, you’re really ticklish huh?”

“NOO! HAA! STOP! DON’T DO-! AHAAAAAAA!” She could feel her whole face going red, ears burning and tears starting to prick her eyes. He stopped, letting her finally breathe. She panted heavily, looking up at him with an almost pleading expression and recognizing that faint blue blush across his skull. This reminded her of much happier times, where something like this might’ve been welcome. The feeling of his bones against her skin, grabbing onto that warm blue jacket for comfort and support. What she’d give to live that life again…

Wait, was he leaning forward? Shitshitshitshit! Without thinking, she swung her forehead up to meet his, instantly regretting the action. She felt something wet and would have a throbbing headache for a while but it was enough to throw him off balance and then she jerked the rest of her body, pushing him off. She had to get as far away from here as possible. Getting to her feet, she started to run but the scarf around her neck halted her, choking her for a moment before she fell back into the snow again.

Her eyes widened as she saw the end of the fabric held in a bony fist.

“And who said you could leave?” he said but she was already up once again, running at him.

“Let that go!” she shouted, watching as the fabric lit up at the touch of another source of magic. There was a blinding light as a usually hidden blue soul glowed brightly between his ribs, a heavy stream of magic going from it, up his arm and into the scarf.

“What the-?” Sans said before he looked more visibly tired. She tried to yank it from his grip but he didn’t let go, falling forward.

No! No! No!, she thought, instantly sliding forward, catching him before he hit snow. His fist was closed tightly around it and she couldn’t budge his fingers at all. It had already started to take hold. He wasn’t going to be able to let go.

“Sans! Stay with me!” she shouted, looking around for her blade and grabbing it out of the snow, “You’re gonna be okay! I promise! I’m gonna save you!”

-

“Some kids told me to die.”

Sans looked up at the woman in the white dress, her face blurred and unfocused as before. Those words, the sound of her voice; if he hadn’t heard the quivering there, he would’ve thought she was joking. This all was somewhat familiar to him. The words formed before he could even think.

“Kids say stupid things. Don’t listen to them,” Sans said, reaching up to touch her cheeks gently.

“They said if I died, then the monsters could use my soul and break the barrier.” His smile faltered a bit, “Then all monsters would be free on the surface and everyone would be happy. My being alive is stopping everyone from being happy.” He felt something wet on his hands and recognized tears falling from the blurred out face. She was crying.

A fire went off in his chest and what he wanted to ask was who said that. So that he could find them and give them a bad time.

“There’s plenty of humans on the surface. One is bound to tumble down here eventually. You don’t have to be a sacrifice.” Arms encircled him and he was pulled into a warm hug, fingers gripping at his jacket in desperation. He breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were no longer curled together.

“Sans, this is dangerous…”

The woman in front of him sounded concerned. She was taller than him, by a head or so, so she looked down and it annoyed him sometimes so he’d use magic to make himself taller. She said she didn’t care about the size difference but he did it anyway. In his hands was a white scarf, matching her white dress. She stooped a bit so that he could wrap it around her shoulders, gently caressing the skin; she was always so soft.

“It’ll be fine,” he heard himself say, “This’ll give you a small advantage.” She gave a small snort and he smiled.

“I mean it,” he said, “A human hasn’t dropped down here in years and the monsters are starting to look at you… Plus, those death threats you told me about…” There was silence, “Papyrus and I can’t always be here to protect you but I want you to have at least a fighting chance against anyone that comes at you. This scarf will strip the magic of any monster that touches it and you’ll be able to use their magic.”

“But won’t this kill them?” she asked, “Magic is like blood to you guys….”

“Well maybe they’ll think twice about hurting you then.” From her body language, she didn’t look comfortable with the idea.

“A human will fall. They’ll see. Then we’ll all live on the surface happy. They just need to be patient.”

“I hope you’re right,” her voice cracked and she pulled him into a hug, squeezing.

“Wait! The scarf!” he shouted, even as he felt his consciousness slipping. She let go, calling him as he slid into darkness.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this chapter was hard. I went through a lot of different conversations that I wanted to happen but they never got the exact result I was trying for. I apologize if this chapter is a bit shorter than the other ones or if it seems clunky. Been listening to SIA to try and help the creative juices flowing. So here ya go~ Enjoy~

Papyrus was pacing back and forth, watching his brother on the couch. The human had suddenly shown up at the door, face covered in blood and his brother on its back, a slip of something blue caught in his fist. He had really feared the worst, even as it told him he blacked out. He was sure there was details being left out but now wasn’t the time for that. He had to make sure Sans was okay. They had laid him on the couch and covered him up but that was about all he could do.

In the spirit of politeness, he had offered to dress the human’s wounds but it refused, using a towel to hold against the head wound. He knew he wasn’t going to get anything out of it and here he was, pacing back and forth uselessly. It was frustrating. The human said nothing, looking down at the floor and it irritated him.

“When is he waking up?” he asked. No answer. The silence was starting to get to him. He gave a heavy sigh, trying to calm down. He didn’t even know what had happened; there was no reason to assume that the human had anything to do with it. For all he knew, it had walked past and found his brother like this. Yeah, that was it.

Then what was all the blood? Why were they both so scuffed up, as if they’d been fighting? Why was his brother stuck in some paralyzed state with his fist closed so tightly over a blue piece of fabric? Why was the human’s scarf suddenly missing a piece? He pounded his fist into the nearby wall, shaking the house. The human jumped, looking up at him before back at the ground.

“I need something,” Papyrus said, “Anything. Please.”

“I’m so- “

“That’s all you’ve said since you got here!” Papyrus shouted, his soul flaring, “‘Sorry’ isn’t doing anything for Sans!” The human curled up tightly, burying it’s face and sobbing, apologizing still. He felt bad instantly. It was probably just as scared as he was and it had found him like that.

The apology died on his teeth as there was a groan from the couch and Papyrus rushed out, seeing his brother move.

“Brother!” Papyrus exclaimed, hugging him tightly, “I was so worried! When the human came to the door, carrying you in that condition, I thought for sure the worst had happened!”

“S-She’s still here?” he asked, “Where?” He tried to get up.

“Brother! You have to rest!” Papyrus was insistent, pushing him firmly back into the couch, “I’ll get it for you.” He went back into the kitchen only to find the seat where the human had been sitting vacant. It disappeared.

“So, what happened?” he asked, hoping to distract Sans for a moment while he checked the kitchen.

“I collapsed, I guess,” Sans said, “…I didn’t eat anything this morning...”

“Uh huh.” Papyrus checked under the sink but nothing but bones and that annoying dog. Refrigerator only had leftovers. He grabbed a plate and warmed it up quick, bringing it out. Sans was still laying there, hopefully too tired to try to leave. He had little worry for the human right now but that seemed to be all his brother was worried about.

“Um, Sans? Did the human… do this?”

“Huh? No bro. She’s harmless.” Papyrus sighed, a bit relieved to put that thought out of his mind.

“You just rest. You look bone-tired.” The grin on Sans’ face grew a bit larger and Papyrus had to look away, a bit disappointed at himself for making a pun. But if it was for his brother, he’d do anything.

-

He was bedridden for three days; usually it’d be a godsend to spend his days sleeping but he had too much thinking to do to sleep. Too many thoughts to process.

He didn’t know enough about the girl; She could use reset, some improved version. The ability to dodge his attacks and deflect them like they were nothing. She could use monster magic through a piece of cloth which made her dangerous to every monster in the underground. And it was all his fault. By now, it was safe to assume that the younger girl and the older woman from his memories were the same person; he held up the piece of fabric that had been caught in his fingers, looking at the jagged edges.

After he blacked out, she must’ve cut it to stop the flow of magic. This piece was harmless now, cut off from the source or maybe already full of energy; He’d have to examine it later for the details. For now, he stuck it in his pocket and made his way down from upstairs. His first order of business was to hopefully find the human girl. She’d had a three-day head-start but he doubted she went much farther than Snowdin. Papyrus was out now, probably at Undyne’s so he didn’t have to worry about him.

As he opened the door however, a rather large boulder flew by, almost taking out the wooden awning on the front porch. It landed, rolling several feet.

“HUMAN! YOU’RE DEAD MEAT!” Sans blinked, looking out to see Undyne wearing her full armor. Half of the village was standing behind her, including Papyrus who seemed to be pleading for the tall warrior to stop. On the other side stood the human girl, scuffed up and bleeding down one arm. It had black and blue splotches around the fingers, probably from breakage and it didn’t seem like she had much control as it swung loosely when she let go of it. It’d probably been knocked out of the socket. She looked like she’d got the worst end of the fight, if he could even call it that.

“You’re being unreasonable!” she shouted, “I already made my deal! I’m not surrendering to anyone but Papyrus! And that’s not until I take care of some business!”

“IT DOESN’T MATTER IF YOU’RE ALIVE OR DEAD HUMAN! AS LONG AS I GET THAT SOUL OF YOURS!” A series of spears erupted out of thin air, hurtling towards her. She deflected a couple, stepping away from the rest, “YOU’RE IN THE WAY OF EVERYONE’S HAPPINESS!”

He watched as her face changed, looking upset at having those words repeated to her. Sans figured he should step in before he lost the chance at getting any answers.

“Hey Undyne, cool it,” he said in his usual joking manner, “This is a village and you’re putting monsters in danger. You really should take your fights to places less populated.” He stood between the two, half convinced that Undyne wouldn’t attack if he was there.

“Get out of the way Sans!” Papyrus yelled, “Undyne’s not listening to anyone right now!”

“OUT OF THE WAY SANS! I HAVE A JOB TO DO AND YOU’RE INTERFERING!” Another row of spears appeared behind her, poised and ready to strike.

“If you kill the human here with all these witnesses, it’d look bad on you. You should leave this kind of thing to Asgore, ya know?” he continued, “She’s a child after all.”

Undyne looked positively livid but she seemed to back off just a bit. He wasn’t sure if he would have to use force or not but he was glad he didn’t have to. He turned to the girl behind him, looking at her questioningly. She looked away, face red.

“You should probably come inside, so we can take a look at that arm,” he offered. She didn’t object, following close beside him. Once they were inside, she begun to show signs of pain, gripping her arm as close as possible.

“Let me take a look.” He moved towards her and she took a step back; pretty understandable.

“I’m not gonna hurt you. I promise,” he assured her.

“This isn’t the part where you use my arm as a means of getting information is it?” she asked.

“Have I done that before?” The silence that followed was chilling; he ignored it and took a look at her arm. Just as he thought, popped out. Hestraightened her arm before pushing it into her shoulder. There was a pop and it was back in. However, the fingers on her left hand seemed broken. Papyrus was much better at healing than he was; he’d probably have to wait until his brother came inside.

“Thank you.” He was surprised to hear that from her but gave a smile anyway.

“So now will you answer my questions?” he asked and she grimaced, “I’ve been having these weird dreams when I sleep.”

“Sounds rough,” she replied, holding her arm in her good one.

 Sans shrugged continuing, “In the dreams, there’s a woman in a white dress. Her face is blurred so I can’t be too sure but she’s you isn’t she?”

The human girl tried to stand up but he grabbed her good arm, pulling her back down, “Look, I need something here. It’s a simple question. I’m pretty sure I know the answer but some confirmation would be nice for once. Wouldn’t it be easier to be friends than enemies?”

She didn’t say anything and he figured she wouldn’t, giving a sigh. But the pressure on his fingers increased a bit, her own hand creating a crushing grip for a moment.

“Is that what we are?” she replied, “It would be nice…but then you’d have to share the same fate as me and, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Listen… What you’re seeing? It’s ancient history. That life doesn’t belong to you or me anymore. We don’t have to deal with those responsibilities anymore. Just live your life okay?”

“I want to know what we were,” Sans said, “Don’t you want to at least be friends?” She let go of his hand, placing her hands on her head and trying to breathe evenly. It came out quick and uncontrolled, almost panicky.

“Throwing a tantrum won’t solve anything,” he heard her mutter to herself, “This isn’t about me...” She was shaking, shivering. He felt like he’d seen this before. Sans reached for her and she jumped back, unable to stand as her anxiety attack got worse.

“Shh shh,” he hushed her, gently patting her head, “It’s gonna be okay. It’ll be fine. I promise. Let it all out. It’ll be okay.” She gave shaky breaths and began sobbing, eyes flashing around the room in a panicked way. Her chest heaved, hands scrambling to her throat and she looked like she wanted to run but her whole body was shaking way too hard for her to even get up.

“I thought...I thought you were going to…” she tried to speak and he hushed her, not trying to get any closer. The short skeleton shed his jacket and carefully draped it on her shoulders. She looked at him, before wrapping herself up in it. It was too big for her and she looked buried in it. Minutes went by and he continued to pat her head and soothe her with hushed whispers. Slowly, she calmed down.

Funnily enough, he remembered this. Anxiety attacks were common weren’t they? After all the death threats she got, she was always on edge and she would have them frequently. Had she been attacked once too? These memories were hazy but he thought he could remember, perhaps once or twice. That was why he made her the scarf, so she could feel safe, so she could be safe. Even if it went against everything, he had wanted her to have a fighting chance. She was fragile and she wouldn’t hurt anyone; she didn’t want to fight anyone. She only wanted to have friends, to be near friends.

“I know you’re not him,” she piped up and he paused his petting, “You’re not… my Sans… But you act like him. You care like he does. You speak like he does. I can’t… I can’t get any closer… Please understand. I don’t want to be enemies but… If I don’t keep you at an arm’s distance, then I can’t do what I have to do…” Despite that, she seemed to clutch his jacket harder. He wasn’t exactly sure what to say so he didn’t say anything, continuing to reassure her that everything would be okay.


End file.
